One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates end-to-end identity propagation to a backend-tier application that is not single sign-on enabled. During operation, the system receives request from a user at a middle-tier application to access private data from the backend-tier application. Upon receiving this request, the system redirects the user to a single sign-on server that verifies authentication credentials of the user. The middle-tier application then receives a token from the single sign-on server authorizing access to a backend-tier application. Next, the middle-tier application uses the token to access the private data from the backend-tier application, and then provides the private data to the user.